In the eyes of that god, Morax was nothing but a hypocritical little man.
All he wanted was to be dealt with fairly after losing—not to be asked, "What if there had been no war?"
And certainly not to be looked at with that pitying gaze.
It was like this: I beat you, yet I still ask you, "What if we hadn't fought?"
That wasn't inquiry—it was gloating.
And then to be stared at with that "how pitiful you are" look.
It was undoubtedly the greatest humiliation for a loser.
Therefore, he would rather kill himself than see Morax's face again.
...
And now, Morax, frozen in place, thought long and hard before finally grasping this truth—and understanding why the god had chosen suicide.
"What have I done..." Morax clutched his head in anguish, staring at the corpse before him.
He had meant no harm; he only wanted to know if the other had been forced into it.
Though Elliot had warned him at the start of the war that many gods would attack Liyue, Morax longed for an answer from the other's own mouth.
It was like how elders, speaking from experience, warn the young not to fall into pointless traps.
Yet there will always be fiery young souls who refuse to believe it, insisting on testing things for themselves.
Morax belonged to that category.
His actions fundamentally questioned whether everything Elliot had told him was true.
Naturally, Morax leaned toward believing it wasn't.
Before this incident, the kind-hearted Morax had always thought of them as gods who came to challenge him, much like in the past wars.
The answer Morax sought was: without war, they might still come to seize Liyue's land, but not with a death wish.
In his rush for answers, he ignored what a defeated god might feel.
Blunt and unthinking, Morax failed to see things from another's perspective. He had deeply wounded a god who had challenged him honorably—a god worthy of respect.
...
From afar, Elliot felt only helplessness.
His guidance had been meant to prevent such things, to spare Morax detours, reduce his burdens, and preserve more of the spirit he'd had when they first met.
But now it was clear—his efforts had been in vain.
Morax was destined to go through this. Even Elliot, no matter how hard he tried, could not stop it.
In this war, Morax would inevitably grow colder.
So Elliot left silently, returning to Tianheng Mountain.
...
Half a month later, Morax finally returned.
His face now showed little trace of youthful innocence, replaced by maturity—and coldness.
"Your Majesty, you've finally returned. Was that god strong?" Cloud Retainer asked upon seeing him, not noticing anything amiss.
"Not strong," Morax answered.
"Not strong? Then how... Mmph!" Before Cloud Retainer could finish, the other three immortals quickly covered her mouth.
"Watch the timing of your words!" Mountain Shaper whispered.
Morax said nothing at the sight. He simply walked straight toward Elliot.
"Back?" Elliot asked slowly.
"Mhm."
"Have you come to terms with it?"
"I have."
"Good. Do you want to continue learning that skill?"
"Yes."
Morax's coldness was even more pronounced than Elliot had expected, though it was understandable. After what he had been through, such a change was natural.
With time, he would shift again.
Right now, he seemed to have just realized the brutality of war—and the rules of this game.
He understood that in this game, no one participated by choice.
Not a single god welcomed it. Not a single god wanted this war.
But it was unavoidable.
Since it was a game, there had to be winners and losers.
Victory meant leading one's people to live on.
Defeat meant facing destruction.
The world had no room for "what ifs."
And even if it did, such words should never come from the victor.
Victory is victory. To ask otherwise was nothing but flaunting it.
For the defeated, it was humiliation.
...
In the days that followed, the war only grew harsher.
Morax showed no mercy. Any god who tried to seize Liyue's land was crushed outright, without another word.
The immortals, of course, took part in hunting down the gods. But their combined strength was not enough to truly stand against them. In the end, it always fell to Morax to finish the suppression.
As the Archon War dragged on, its nature began to shift.
The gods no longer fought and raided alone.
They discovered there were many other powerful beings who could wield the elements—and drew them under their banners.
These beings, recruited by the gods, came to be known as the [God's Retainers], warriors whose power ranked just below the gods themselves.
The immortals of Liyue, the tengu and oni tribes of Inazuma—all of them were counted among the [God's Retainers].
And from that point on, the true brutality of the Archon War was revealed.